Gunther Steiner has issued a clear warning to Mick Schumacher for the forthcoming Baku-Montreal double header.
Speculation about the 23-year-old German’s future at Haas and in Formula 1 went into overdrive after team boss Steiner said the high-speed crash at Monaco was "not very satisfactory".
Indeed, while some teams bicker about inflation in the context of the 2022 budget cap, Schumacher’s repair bill so far this season is counted in the millions.
Steiner says the small American team cannot afford more crashes and repairs as Formula 1 jets from Azerbaijan, located on the boundary of eastern Europe and western Asia, all the way to Canada in North America in the space of mere days.
"The challenges are that you go from one continent to another," he said ahead of Baku.
"If you have any damage on the car, it gets more difficult so we’re hoping to not have any damage in Baku," added Steiner.
As for the questionable pairing of Azerbaijan and Canada on consecutive weekends, there were reports recently that Liberty Media and the FIA want to organise a smarter calendar for 2023.
"It would be great if we can combine the races regionally," Steiner agrees.
"I know that Stefano (Domenicali) is working very hard on that one and it will go in the right direction next year."